UNHCR

Despite the record number of refugees and displaced people around the world today, rich countries appear to be increasingly reluctant to provide them safe haven. Many Westerners do think that most refugees and displaced people are ‘innocent victims,’ according to a new survey commissioned by humanitarian organization Islamic Relief Worldwide, yet only a minority thought their countries were morally or politically responsible for taking them in.

The United Nations is urging countries around the Caribbean to view the recent surge in refugees, from near and far, as a long-term benefit and not just a short-term challenge. More than 5,000 people came to various Caribbean nations last year seeking asylum, representing a 257 percent increase in the number of asylum seekers between mid-2015 and mid-2016 for the region.

The months-long surge of Iraqi forces to retake Mosul continues to force people to flee the city and leaves 100,000 children trapped in the city in “extremely dangerous conditions,” warns UNICEF. Aid organizations are being overwhelmed by both the challenge of trying to reach suffering people within Mosul and providing basic needs to half the city’s population who has fled to outside refugee camps.

The world’s largest refugee camp will remain open another six months. The Kenyan government announced that it is postponing its plan to close the Dadaab camp. It comes as little surprise given that there is no plan for how to resettle the more than 280,000 people who call the camp home.

World leaders will gather in New York in September for a United Nation special summit to deal with a grim global achievement – the record high number of refugees and forcibly displaced people around the planet. Critics are expressing serious doubts about whether politicians will come up with any meaningful strategies or proposals.

Friends of Humanosphere

About

Humanosphere

Seattle is the epicenter of a global effort to beat back poverty and illness in the poorest corners of the world. We'd like Humanosphere to be your go-to source for news, conversation and analysis about this effort as it unfolds. Your host is Tom Paulson, a reporter with decades of experience covering science, medicine and global health in the US and beyond.

Support Humanosphere

Do you want to make the world a better place? Of course you do!
One way you can help do that is by helping us here at Humanosphere make the worldwide fight against poverty and inequity as newsworthy as a cat video, a car crash or a celebrity in rehab. We are an independent, non-profit news site that gives a damn. We need you to give as well, and here’s how you can!